I’m not sure what stars aligned in the googley cosmos, but this is the second guest post I’ve gotten this week. In this recipe post by blogger Rosie Zhao, we learn how to make cake in a rice cooker (bless you, Rosie, bless you). This is particularly relevant if you live in China, the land of no ovens. You can find the original post, with delicious cake-filled pictures, here.

Rosie says: “Since living in China I’ve become more and more interested in learning to cook western food from scratch. I want to try to recreate some of my favorites from back home in the U.S. I am trying to post some recipes in both English and Chinese on my blog in hopes that other expats as well as Chinese locals will give them a try. This recipe is my own and translated into Chinese with the help of my husband.“

1. Mash fruit in a bowl, using a fork. I used strawberries and mangoes, but feel free to experiment!
2. Grease the bottom of your rice cooker with oil or butter.
3. Spread fruit in bottom of greased rice cooker.
4. In a bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, and salt.
5. In a second bowl, cream butter (or oil) with sugar. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla extract and milk and mix.
6. Stir dry mixture into wet mixture. Stir until combined.
7. Pour batter into rice cooker.
8. Close cooker and press ‘cook’ button. The cake will probably take about 15 minutes to cook but the ‘cook’ button will change to ‘keep’ before that. Just let it stay on ‘keep’ for a few minutes and then hit ‘cook’ again. Repeat if needed.
9. Check cake with toothpick, it should come out clean.
10. Let cool for 10 minutes. When done, loosen cake from sides of rice cooker with a plastic or wooden spoon (or spatula).
11. Flip onto plate and serve. Top with fresh fruit if desired.